A COMPARATIVE APPROACH TO SCIENCE EDUCATION: PEDAGOGY AND LEARNING TECHNOLOGY IN CHINA & THE US

When it comes to science education, there are global variations in the utilization of technology in learning. This contrast was apparent during my 2012 sabbatical visit to China, in which I compared Chinese pedagogy to that of U.S. In China, science education is primarily within the parameters of pure science curricula. On the other hand, in the U.S., the primary goal of science in general education is to popularize science as a methodology. Chinese science education is primarily teacher-centered, whereas, the pedagogy in the U.S. is centered on students. Additionally, Chinese science education relies a great deal on ascribed textbooks and print materials. American science education, however, relies on a myriad of sources such as workbooks, digital materials and hands-on experiments. These technologies incorporated by the U.S. demonstrate an enhancement in the learning outcome of the American students. The core of my sabbatical project was to expose a select group of Chinese faculty members to some of the American pedagogy and learning technologies used in Physics courses. I held several demonstrations of science teaching in two universities of Shandong Province of China: the University of Jinan, Jinan and the Shandong University of Technology, Zibo. Following my teaching demonstrations, I talked to both teachers and students to gauge their assessment of American science pedagogy. Based on my findings, the majority of Chinese teachers and students classified American pedagogical strategies to be more relevant and better able to “trigger interest in science”. Examples of the learning technology demonstrations will be included in the presentation.